Table attachment for automobile luggage compartments



May 31, 1949.

Filed DeC. 5, 1944 E. c. DOERR TABLE ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILE LUGGAGECOMPARTMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Yz'zaieZ 0206/7;

May 31, 1949. y E. c. DOERR 2,471,730

TABLE ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENTS Filed Dec. 5, 19442 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 31, 1949 wmol Y. a. to TAKBLE ATTAQHMENTFOR AUTGMGfiiEE? LUGGAGECO minutiae ma, atttrgh- Aissucahomeembr 5, 1 44siitf- NoJ-mwe 4 cit'iinst (01f efi -"zit;

This invention relate's to automobiles and has special reference to atable attachments for. automobiles;

Many of the resent day automobiles are provided with" a rear luggagecompartment for pack ages and the like and this rearcompartmeht isclosed byadoor' accessible from" the exterior of the automobil;

One important object of the present inventio iSiQ provide afitableattachiilent to be housed within the intrior' oi the pear compartment ofan automobileandadaptedto be moved in and outof-such compartment Asecond important "object of the invention is to providea device of thischaracter wherein the table; when not in use; may be housed; ina' suitable fiat casin within' the automobile rear com partment, theaifrangementbemgsu'ch as to afford a minimum of obstruction for the"storing of articles iii this rear compartment. n a

V A- thirdfiniportarit "object of the inventiom is to provi'd e andyeldevi'ceof this charabter wherein the front edge of the table willbe supported by the automobile while in use and wherein the projectingportions of the table are provided with suitable telescopic legs I IWith the aboyerand" othei 'objects inview the invention consists ingeneralfofs certain hovel details of constructionandcombinations ofparts hereihafter fully described, illustrated inthe accompanyingdrawings arid particularly maimed Iii-the accompanyihg drawings Figure 1is a view partly in elevationand partly in' section showingthe rearportion of afi automobile and the foldable table, the latter being shownfolded and packed in full lines andexten'dedfor use iri'brokenulineskFigure "ztis an enlarged rear iviewfof the'table and" its housinggz:thel=automobile parts being omitted. v

Figure 3.is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and. partly insection; showingitheitable and th'eurrean portioni of-L the''hou'sihg,.1 the table being showfi as setup;

Figure is a r meg taiw i w showine t e manfier of "attachi I {the tablelegs and also the ne ihin ihet egtah ei yes, h 1

Figure 5 is a jragmentafy section showingifone edge of a table'leaf; v

F 'ig 'ire "6 is a fragz he'i taryg vieW showing, the am rng emena ofone off the 1' table 1 legs, and? its cin Refi ???N151frgisriien a yiyiwioti the under side of 'one of the'table leavesw showing a portionMBARIMENTSYA oil plywood ileates "of 1: isi ih i 'i t of thexdevioe foriockihgli the leaf in: stored-posi- M 4' N ,,z ar

Fig'iire 18 isiaid" a1] {sectional view-:otapart of theplatformiishowin' .Jatch-rceivihg@opening :thewdevicesas hereinshdwmthere is fittediwithih'i the ,rean compartment'ofianiaiitdz'riobfle aiplatformzuw which is; arranged .ir'il' hoxiizontJ position :and; spaced above? thesbottomioiflthe combattment; At eachsideu'of this pla'tfoirmi depending. side member I ftothbottorzigd'gof;which-1isscure1y fastened an liriwardl? projectingflaiige [2. Thisconstructionwprovidesr oft opposedu'im-ways and In; the arrahgem'ent:of;

thesearuneways aiewparallela .At themear or mouthifl'endioieaohwrunimay; F a \stop piece 13 is secured to'the platfonfi l m. The:structure thus deseribediformszthe' Thefltaiblupresex 1 ihii ends-co tet opposite sias-of 2 I as "shown "at 2 ends working in -gu hn lgehiean2813 Oh if sec v ed a p i 'of soekts l tram, whihtubtflar legfportiohswwex'th I downwardly to -receive bali feet 321 This structure providestelescopic degs "hinged to t the rear leaf and these legs are held intelescopically adjusted position by thumb screws 33. Diagonal foldingbraces 34 are pivoted to the tubular portions at of the leg as at 35 andto brackets 35 secured beneath the rear leaf l and to the rear of thestrip 21. This arrangement permits the legs formed by the basic members30 and 3| to be folded upward concurrently beneath the rear leaf :5 bypivotal movement of strip 21, thus placin them in position for readyfolding of the leaf into superposed relation to the front leaf with thelegs positioned above and thus readily movable into the compartment forhousing.

Beneath the rear zone of the front leaf I l is also a block 31 which ishinged similar to the strip 21 and carries a telescopic leg 38 having abrace 39. This leg construction is like that previously described exceptthat the brace 39 and the hinge for this leg are at right angles to thebraces 34 and hinge 28 so that the leg 38 folds laterally beneaththe'leaf M; "the block 31 is preferably positioned in a mid-zone of thewidth of the leaf 14, as indicated in Figure 2. Clips l-ii receive andhold thelegs when'folded.

When the device is.in storage the legs are folded against the lowersides of the respective leaves, the rear leaf being on top of the frontleaf and the latch rods 22 engaged in slots 26. When it is desired touse the device, the door of the rear compartment is opened, the hingededges of the two leaves are grasped and the table drawn rearwardly untilthe stop members 19 engage the stop pieces I3. Then the leaf 15, whichis slightly shorter than the leaf- I4, is swung on its hinge, the legsdropped to engage the ground and fully adjusted so the unfolded table ishorizontal.

As will be understood from the drawings, the assemblage provides astructure readily produced by simple mechanical methods, and provides atable structure of the planar top type, supported in such form as to beextremely steady and substantial in action, and yet is of such form asto be readily foldable into relationships such as will enable bodilymovement into housed position and readily accommodated Within therestricted space of the luggage compartment. The various members are soformed and mounted as to require no actual disengagement of parts fromthe assemblageadjustment of leg, lengths may be required to meetparticular conditions, but there is no actual removal of parts. In otherwords, the assemblage is so formed that it can be folded into thecompact form required for housing, but the folding does not affect'theform of the assemblage; hence, it is necessary only to'dr-aw out thehoused assemblage, unfold it, brace the legs through the braces, andadjust the leg length, the relation of the parts positionally-other thanthe foldabilityrem-aining constant.

The result is obtained by-forming the table top in two sections,pivotally connected in such manner that the rear section can be foldedinto. superposed relation to the front section and lie substantiallyfiat thereon; hence, both sections can be moved into and out of. housedposition as a unit, the rear section being of sufiicient shorter lengthas to permit such folding, the front section being so dimensioned andmounted as to be slidable relative to its supporting ways, but incapableof being completely withdrawn from such ways, due to the stopformations. Hence, the front of the table is actually supported by suchways; since the latter are located at the sides of the table path, suchsupport is at both of the front corners of the table.

The rear legs of the table are positioned in the rear corner zones ofthe table-the rear zone of leaf I5 when the latter is unfolded. Bothlegs 30 are carried by strip 21, itself hingedly connected to the underface of the leaf, with the hinging such that the legs, when folded,extend in fore and aft direction. Since folding of leaf l5 intosuperposed relation to leaf I4 places such near zones of the leaf I5inthe forward part of the compartment when the structure is housed, thehoused length of the legs is materially reduced as compared with theservice length, since the entire leg structure must also be containedwithin the compartment. Hence, each of legs 30 is formed sectional (Fig.6) to permit this change in length dimension. The leg structures overliethe leaf 15 in the housed condition.

One of the conditions produced by the table formed in this manner is thefact that not only is the table length, in service, considerable, butcontains a transverse hinging line in the midzone of such length withthe hinging action such as will permit the desired folding of leaf !5onto the top of leaf N; as a result the structure would be vulnerable inservice if the table support were limited to the corner zones, since themid-zone and any content located thereon provide a weight factoreffective to act on the hinging line to set up the characteristics ofthe folding of the leaf i5. since this actionmust be prevented, legsupport in the vicinity of the hinging line is required, and is providedbythesingle leg 38 which is located in an intermediate zone in thewidthof leaf E5; the leg is similar in type to the remaining legs, and ismounted on b1ock-3l with the latter hinged in such manner that the legfolds in the direction of widthof the table; since the leg is carried byleaf It, the folded leg will underlie leaf It whenthe assemblage ishoused where its free end is carried by a clip to. Obviously, leg 38 maybe mounted in an intermediate zone of leaf l5 adjacent the hinging line,with block 3'! hinged to permit fore and aft movement of leg 38-thusplacing all the legs as overlying leaf H) in the housed positions.However, the arrangement shown is preferred since such arrangementprovides a leg support for leaf It to offset any tendency to instabilityOf the leaf supported at the, front by the ways and at the rear by thehinging linethe leg thus protects the hinging line as well as relievingthe front support from undesired pressures. The folded leg does notinterfere with the operation of lever 20 when looking the foldedassemblage in its housed oonclition.

What is claimed is:

1. In table attachment assemblagesv for automobiles, wherein the luggagecompartment of the auto receives the table portion of the assemblage fortransportation and housing purposes, and wherein the table portion issectional and positionable for service rearward of the compartment withthe section-s presenting a substantially planar top having one endsupported by the auto and with the planar top additionally supported byleg formations, an assemblage of such type including front and rearsections hingedly connected to permit folding into superposed positionswith the rear section overlying the front section, said sections. beingsupported in such superposed relation within the compartment with thefront section carried by and movable on ways positioned within thecompartment, said ways and front section having cooperating means forreventing complete withdrawal of the front section from the ways tothereby place the ways as a support for the front end of the table inservice, the fore and aft length of the rear section being less thanthat of the front section to permit free swinging of the rear sectionabout the hinging axis to form the planar top formation for service,said rear section having its free end zone equipped with a pair ofpivoted leg formations each movable pivotally in fore and aft directionbetween a position to support such table and a position to overlie therear section when the sections are housed, one of said sections carryinga single pivoted leg formation with the formation located in thevicinity of the hinging line and positioned in an intermediate zone inthe width of the section, with the single leg formation movable forhousing purposes into a position of substantial parallelism with thesection which carries it.

2. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that the single legformation is carried by the front section and pivoted thereto forfolding movement in the direction of width of the section and with theformation underlying the front seclength adjustment by relativelongitudinal movement of the sections, each leg formation including afoldable brace connecting the leg with the leaf section by which the legis carried, the :brace being in folded position when the assemblage ishoused.

4. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that the from; sectionand the ways have complemental manually operative means adapted to berendered active when the assemblage is in housed position for lockingthe assemblage in such position.

ELIZABETH C. DOERR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 734,155 Barnes et a1 July 21,1903 1,098,013 Burton May 26, 1914 1,582,380 Carpenter et al Apr. 27,1926 2,010,270 Lawrence Aug. 6, 1935 2,160,958 Critchlow June 6, 19392,214,575 Cercownay Sept. 10, 1940 2,228,203 DeHoiTmann Jan. 7, 19412,249,845 Mitchell July 22, 1941 2,270,948 Howe Jan. 27, 1942 2,324,507Johnson July 20, 1943

